Stranded Jaffna residents await sea transport from Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 November 2006, 10:42 GMT]300 Jaffna district residents, stranded in Vavuniya since the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) closure of the A9 route when clashes between the SLA and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) erupted August 11, were taken by bus Tuesday to Trincomalee to be sent by ship to Jaffna, Vavuniya Secretariat sources said.

Only those who had registered their names with the Vavuniya Secretariat were selected for the trip. A fee of 300 rupees for the bus journey to Trincomalee and 1500 rupees for the ship per person was charged, Secretariat sources added.

Each passenger was allowed to take only 30 kg and the goods taken by the peninsula residents consisted mainly of essential food and medicinal items, sources in Vavuniya said.

The arrangements to send the Jaffna peninsula residents to their homes were made by the Vavuniya Secretariat officials despite the shortage of staff due to the general shut down.

The hartal wasa observed in Vavuniya district for the fifth day in protest against the assassination of Tamil National Parliamentarian Raviraj and the Sri Lanka Governments undeclared economic embargo on the Jaffna peninsula by closing the A9 route, Secretariat officials said.

So far more than 2500 stranded Jaffna residents in Vavuniya were taken in buses to Trincomalee harbour and from there shipped to Jaffna.